“Jolted: Why We Quit, When to Stay, and Why It Matters”
by Anthony Klotz
2026/Viking
$32/304 pages
Anthony Klotz, an organizational psychologist, was teaching an MBA leadership course to a class of “early-career professional” students in the earliest days of Covid-19, when he realized something important: The pandemic had changed the business world for his students, and there was no going back.
“Disruptive events were everywhere,” Klotz says, and he predicted that businesses would see a “wave of quitting” that he called “the great resignation.” Of course, you know he was right, but why? Why do employees quit a perfectly good job?
Because they experience what he calls “jolts.” You know the feeling, when everything suddenly becomes crystal-clear, and you know that change might be necessary.
First, ask yourself if you’d continue at your current job if you won the lottery. Is there a push to exit, or a pull to stay where you are now,
at least for the time being? Can you make things better? Or have you experienced an event that shakes you up, that jolts you into
action or that prods you into deep consideration?
Klotz helps readers understand jolts and explains how to assist a coworker who’s had one. Storytelling lets Klotz illustrate each of his best points, and there’s balance, both for readers who quit on good terms and for those who are stuck in a rut. He also offers guidance for CEOs to recognize their own role in an employee’s jolt, and to understand why they lose good employees.
